Treasure in the Royal Tower Walkthrough

Welcome to my Treasure in the Royal Tower walk-through. (-: If you're new to my series of low-spoiler computer game walkthroughs, the idea is to point players
towards things they might not have tried in each game rather than giving away puzzle solutions or offering step-by-step instructions.

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These Nancy Drew games are structured a little differently than most graphic adventure games, though. In particular, you can solve most of the game's puzzles in
any order you feel like, making a chronological walkthrough of little use, but the physical area the game is played in is TINY -- only 10-15 rooms per game. In light of
this, rather than breaking my walkthrough down into "chapters" or "stages," I'm just going to break it down into areas, with a checklist of important tasks at the
beginning and one of optional tasks at the end. Note that I don't tell you how to solve any of the puzzles--just where they are. If you've found a puzzle
but just can't seem to get it right no matter what you do, UHS is a good place to go for a
single hint that won't spoil the rest of the game for you.

Treasure in the Royal Tower: Key Tasks

If you find yourself getting stuck in the game, keep in mind that the answer frequently doesn't have anything to do with puzzles or additional exploration.
The only times the plot of Treasure in the Royal Tower actually advances are after you've spoken with the NPC's, sent Nancy to bed, or both. So if you
really have no idea what to do next, first make sure that none of the four NPC's have anything to say to you, next try sleeping till morning, and then try calling
Bess, George and Ned on the telephone for advice. If all those things fail, take a look at this checklist of important tasks you will need to complete to solve the game.
This game is a little more linear than other Nancy Drew games (if you go places in the wrong order, you will usually need to backtrack and go to them again when the
time is right) but you still have some flexibility in the order you accomplish many of these tasks:

1) Talk to all the NPC's. Repeatedly. Having certain conversations with them is necessary for the plot to progress.
2) Help Dexter by getting Professor Hotchkiss' boots and delivering them to her.
3) Get stuck in the elevator, then escape. (This will not occur till after you complete #2.)
4) Help Dexter by fixing the fusebox. (Can't do till after #3)
5) Sneak into the library without getting caught. (Can't do till after #4)
6) Figure out the code to disable the library alarm. (Can't do till after #4)
7) Read the book "True Stories Behind Famous Paintings" in the library. (Can't do till after #4)
8) Solve a compass puzzle in the library to open the secret room, and find a key in there. (Can't do till after #4)
9) Help Dexter by running some errands related to Professor Hotchkiss' dinner. (Can't do till after #4.)
10) Answer a research question from Hotchkiss to get her room key, enter her room, and watch her home video
(you'll need to recharge the batteries halfway through.)
11) Figure out how to get into the Queen's Tower. (Can't do till after you complete #6 and #9, find an item, and solve a random puzzle.)
There's an important item in here you'll need later, but you won't be able to get through the locked gate yet.
12) Meet an NPC in the Queen's Tower (you have to have completed #11 and go there at the right time for this to happen.)
13) Get a medallion from a locker (Can't do till after #12)
14) Solve a puzzle in the garden to get a medallion. (Can't do till after #8 and #11. The exit from the building is in the basement, if you're
having trouble finding it.)
15) Find the medallion you lost hidden somewhere in the castle. (Can't do till after #13)
16) Find a key and a medallion in the shed (this medallion is triggered by a conversation with Lisa, so if you've cheesed her off so much that
she won't talk to you, you'll have to wait until she leaves a message on the voicemail in your room.)
17) Solve the ski lift puzzle to escape from the shed. (This happens only after #16.)
18) Look through the peephole with all three medallions (can't complete till finishing all the previous tasks 1-17)
19) Open the locked gate and enter the Royal Tower (can't complete till finishing all tasks 1-17)
20) Solve three puzzles in the Royal Tower (a chains puzzle, a slider puzzle, and a picture-matching puzzle) and retrieve an important journal.
(Can't do this till after #19.)
21) Get the journal translated and read both the translation and the decoder. (Can't complete till finishing both 18 and 20.)
22) Go back to the Royal Tower, find the key, and solve the final puzzle. (You can only do this if you've completed all 21 of the previous tasks.)
23) Succeed at the timed endgame, and you've won!

Treasure in the Royal Tower: Area Guide

The game does its irritating best to hide it by making it take dozens of useless clicks to get from one area to the next, but there are really only fifteen rooms in this
mansion, and only seven of them (!) are accessible in the beginning of the game -- the rest can only be entered later on, as the plot progresses.

Things worth noticing in each area:

SECOND FLOOR

Nancy's Room

*The alarm clock is next to Nancy's bed; use it to change the game clock whenever you need to (you can use it as
often as you want with no ill-effects.)
*The telephone is in this room. In most games using the phone at all is completely optional, but if you choose conversational options that make one of the NPC's
angry with you, you'll need to listen to a voicemail message from her before the game can carry on.
*At first I thought the hissing sound that could be heard in the background as I navigated Nancy's room was a glitch in the game's audio, but it is actually intentional --
search the room and see if you can discover its source.
*There's a magazine on the table you can read if you like.
*There's a brochure about the hotel in Nancy's suitcase, but it's not very interesting.
*There are three hotel-related objects in the room for Nancy to take. The game won't let her leave the room without her key (funny though it would have been for
her to lock herself out,) but the information on the other two will come in handy later.
*Later in the game, after you've completed several other tasks, a new object will appear in here for you.

Professor Hotchkiss' Room

*You cannot enter this room until about halfway through the game, when you acquire a room key.
*At several points when the plot requires it, you will be able to meet Professor Hotchkiss here for conversation. (She will never be available
to talk to at this location at any time that is not explicitly mandated by the plot.).
*Once you are able to enter this room, there are several interesting but optional reading materials in here.
*There is a camcorder with an important videotape you need to watch in here.
*Near the end of the game, two critical plot objects will appear in this room.

Marie Antoinette Room

This is the round room at the end of the hall past Professor Hotchkiss' room, with the large portrait of Marie Antoinette. You won't be able to do anything here
until later in the plot, when you learn how to use the rosette in the wall. At certain times of day you can hear unusual noises in this room, however--see if you
can figure out what they might be!

ELEVATOR

At first the elevator just works like a normal elevator, transporting you between floors, but later in the game, you will be able to enter the elevator shaft, where
you can solve a couple of interesting logistical puzzles to gain access to other rooms.

GROUND FLOOR

Front Desk

*Dexter is usually in here during the day, standing behind the desk; you'll need to return to talk to him many times in order for the plot to advance.
*Note that there is NO WAY TO GO OUT THE FRONT DOOR no matter what you do. The outdoors areas Dexter tells you about can only be reached from a
basement exit (leading out from the Locker Room.)
*If you come here while Dexter is away, you can go behind his desk to acquire an important item and read some optional but interesting notes.

Lounge

*Lisa is usually in here during the day, sitting in the green chair; you'll need to return to talk to her many times in order for the plot to advance.
*Once you've gotten far enough in the plot, Professor Hotchkiss will be here between 3 and 6 AM only, sitting on the sofa opposite Lisa's chair.
You'll need to come here to talk to her several times to advance the plot as well.
*There are several books on the bookcase here which you can read. Unless you're very familiar with French history, you'll need to consult them to answer
a riddle later in the game.

Library

*You cannot enter this room until you have solved a puzzle.
*As soon as you enter, there's a timed puzzle to escape from. If you don't succeed, just use the "Second Chance" button and try again.
*In here are two puzzles to solve: one to learn the code to the library alarm, and the other to open the door to the secret office.
*There are several reading materials scattered around the room, including one that was authored by Professor Hotchkiss; it's important
to read the one called "True Stories Behind Famous Paintings," otherwise you can't win the game.

Secret Office

*You cannot enter this room until you have first figured out how to enter the library, then solved another puzzle.
*There is a key in here you must find.
*The reading materials in the office are optional but highly illuminating.

BASEMENT

Basement Hall

As in other Nancy Drew games, most hallways in Treasure in the Royal Tower are meaningless -- just filler as you move from room to room. The basement hall, however,
has a fusebox on the wall that is important for one of Nancy's quests.

Ski Rental

*Jacques is here during the posted hours, 9-noon and 2-5. You'll need to return to talk to him many times in order for the plot to advance.
*If you come here while Jacques is away, you can acquire an important item here.

Locker Room

*There are three lockers here that Nancy can try to open: 310, 311, and Jacques' locker. The combination lock mechanism is a little screwy, you have to turn to
each number and then press the little triangle button instead of doing the real-world right-left-right thing with the dial. The middle button will just reset the lock.
*Only two of these lockers will actually be possible to open in the course of the game. There is an important object to be found in one of them;
all the reading materials inside are optional but interesting to read through.

OUTSIDE

You cannot go outside until Dexter tells you it's safe to and sends you out to fetch an object (though Nancy can peek out the door at the storm if you want.)
Note that the exit from the castle is located in the locker room -- the front door can never be opened in this game.

If Nancy stays outside for more than a few minutes she might freeze to death, but she'll give you plenty of rather whiny warnings before that happens.
Going inside the shed doesn't help, she needs to get all the way back inside the castle before her time runs out.

Shed

*There is a key in here you must find.
*There is an interesting newspaper article and a clue to a puzzle on the desk here.
*There are two different machines in this room (something that confused me at first.) One of them has a puzzle that will start the ski lift running if you solve it.
The other one doesn't do anything, but you can find an important object here later in the game.
*A rat will sometimes appear here and scurry across one of the machines, but it's just there for ambience--it can't hurt Nancy, and she can't do anything with it.

Secret Garden

*There is a puzzle here for you to solve, with an important object as a reward.

QUEEN'S TOWER

You will need to use an object and solve an annoying trial-and-error puzzle to open the path into the Queen's Tower.

Outer Room (before locked gate)

*If you come here during the day, you can find an object that will be useful later and examine the bars around the locked gate, but not much else. Nothing can be done
with the seated suits of armor.
*If you come here during the night, an interesting event will take place.

*Read the magazine in Nancy's room?
*Mailed the letter to Bess?
*Opened Lisa's locker, looked at her ID cards, and read her letters?
*Read the letters and brochure in Jacques' locker?
*Read the poem and books about Dexter in the secret room?
*Read all the background material about Marie Antoinette in the library, lobby, and Hotchkiss' room?
*Listened to Hotchkiss' message for you on the telephone voicemail?
*Played with the ski lift machine before being locked out of the castle, and heard Nancy's funny excuse to Dexter?

There's also a small forking path in this game--you have the choice to either tell Lisa everything you learn, tell her some but not all of what you learn, or
tell her nothing. The outcome is all the same, but if you tell her nothing, she'll get angry and refuse to talk to you anymore, and eventually leave a
conciliatory message on the telephone's voicemail which you will have to listen to to get her talking to you again.